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PUA_ELEX

September 18, 2017
 Analysis by: RonJay Kristoffer Caragay
 ALIASES:

Riskware/Elex (Fortinet); Application.Elex.E (BitDefender); ADWARE/Elex.69700 (Avira); a variant of Win32/ELEX.BH potentially unwanted (ESET-NOD32); not-a-virus:AdWare.Win32.ELEX.h (Kaspersky)

 PLATFORM:

Windows

 OVERALL RISK RATING:
 DAMAGE POTENTIAL:
 DISTRIBUTION POTENTIAL:
 REPORTED INFECTION:
 INFORMATION EXPOSURE:

  • Threat Type: Potentially Unwanted Application

  • Destructiveness: No

  • Encrypted:

  • In the wild: Yes

  OVERVIEW


This Potentially Unwanted Application arrives on a system as a file dropped by other malware or as a file downloaded unknowingly by users when visiting malicious sites.

  TECHNICAL DETAILS

File Size:

697,000 bytes

File Type:

EXE

Memory Resident:

No

Initial Samples Received Date:

25 May 2015

Arrival Details

This Potentially Unwanted Application arrives on a system as a file dropped by other malware or as a file downloaded unknowingly by users when visiting malicious sites.

Autostart Technique

This Potentially Unwanted Application registers as a system service to ensure its automatic execution at every system startup by adding the following registry keys:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\
Services\WindowsMangerProtect

Other System Modifications

This Potentially Unwanted Application adds the following registry keys:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\
Services\Eventlog\Application\
WindowsMangerProtect

It adds the following registry entries:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\
Services\WindowsMangerProtect
ImagePath = "{malware path and filename}.exe -service"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\
Services\WindowsMangerProtect
DisplayName = "WindowsMangerProtect Service"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\
Services\WindowsMangerProtect
Start = "2"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\
Services\WindowsMangerProtect
Description = "WindowsMangerProtect service"

Dropping Routine

This Potentially Unwanted Application drops the following files:

  • %Temp%\miui.tmp
  • %All Users Profile%\Application Data\WindowsMangerProtect\update\conf

(Note: %Temp% is the Windows temporary folder, where it usually is C:\Windows\Temp on all Windows operating system versions.. %All Users Profile% is the All Users folder, where it usually is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users on Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP (32- and 64-bit); C:\ProgramData on Windows Vista (32- and 64-bit), Windows 7 (32- and 64-bit), Windows 8 (32- and 64-bit), Windows 8.1 (32- and 64-bit), Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2012.)

Other Details

This Potentially Unwanted Application connects to the following possibly malicious URL:

  • http://{BLOCKED}a.xingcloud.com/v4/sof-windowspm/?action=visit.heartbeat.wpmvt
  • http://www.{BLOCKED}lage.com/windowspm/up?ptid=wpmvt&sid=WindowsMangerProtect&ln=en_us&ver=20.0.0.2288&uid=&upv=

  SOLUTION

Minimum Scan Engine:

9.750

SSAPI PATTERN File:

1.627.00

SSAPI PATTERN Date:

04 Jun 2015

Step 1

Before doing any scans, Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 users must disable System Restore to allow full scanning of their computers.

Step 2

Note that not all files, folders, and registry keys and entries are installed on your computer during this malware's/spyware's/grayware's execution. This may be due to incomplete installation or other operating system conditions. If you do not find the same files/folders/registry information, please proceed to the next step.

Step 3

Restart in Safe Mode

[ Learn More ]

Step 4

Delete this registry key

[ Learn More ]

Important: Editing the Windows Registry incorrectly can lead to irreversible system malfunction. Please do this step only if you know how or you can ask assistance from your system administrator. Else, check this Microsoft article first before modifying your computer's registry. Before you could do this, you must restart in Safe Mode. For instructions on how to do this, you may refer to this page If the preceding step requires you to restart in safe mode, you may proceed to edit the system registry.

  • In HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Eventlog\Application
    • WindowsMangerProtect
  • In HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services
    • WindowsMangerProtect

Step 5

Search and delete this file

[ Learn More ]
There may be some files that are hidden. Please make sure you check the Search Hidden Files and Folders checkbox in the "More advanced options" option to include all hidden files and folders in the search result.
  • %Temp%\miui.tmp
  • %All Users Profile%\Application Data\WindowsMangerProtect\update\conf

Step 6

Restart in normal mode and scan your computer with your Trend Micro product for files detected as PUA_ELEX. If the detected files have already been cleaned, deleted, or quarantined by your Trend Micro product, no further step is required. You may opt to simply delete the quarantined files. Please check this Knowledge Base page for more information.


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